History of Ngwelezana hospital

The history of the hospital cannot be written without recalling the Norwegian Lutheran
Missionaries who arrived in this Province on the 1st January 1844
to preach the gospel, led by Hans P.S. Schrender. The missionaries
received a warm welcome from the Inkosi Mkhonto Ntuli who gave them a piece of land called Umphumulo (Place of
rest). Inkosi Mkhonto Ntuli was the trusted friend of King Mpande
kaSenzangakona.

Inkosi Mkhonto Ntuli asked Schrender to accompany him to visit King Mpande
who suffered from gout and pleaded once more to preach the gospel of God in
Zululand. King Mpande gave Hans Schrender approximately 120
hectares of land which included Matshana, Ngwelezana Township and Qhubandabe
under Inkosi Zungu. This place was called Embangweni, but is now known
as Empangeni.

The hospital began to operate in 1970 as a convalescence hospital . In 1974 the hospital was
taken over by the State Health, it had previously been operating under
Empangeni hospital. In October 1977, all services were taken over by
the KwaZulu-Natal Government. Initially

Ngwelezana hospital was
intended to be one of the T.B settlements in the Province.

The hospital has grown to be one of the largest hospitals in District 28. The hospital has a
staff of over 1200 and it services about 7 700 patients per month including referrals from other hospitals.